Baptism Faith TrainingSýnishorn

Day 3: What Jesus Does with Baptism

Enter Jesus, who takes John’s baptism and gives it a new tone.

Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

For Christians, the practice of baptism as we think of it today stems from this command. It’s intimately tied to what it means to be Jesus’s disciple. And with it comes all sorts of blessings.

Let’s break it down. First, the thrust of the whole thing is about making disciples. The Bible teacher, Ray Vander Laan, may have the best working definition: “A disciple is not someone who wants to know what a teacher knows. A disciple is someone who wants to be who the teacher is!”

There were plenty of people who had disciples in Jesus’s day. Too often discipleship is thought of strictly in terms of acquired knowledge. But discipleship is more than that. Discipleship is about following someone and modeling your life on them. It’s saying, “I want to be like you.” And then following that person. When we do, we inevitably give much of our lives to that person – our time, attention, affection, loyalty, and trust – as they pour into us. Think master and apprentice, mentor and mentee, Jedi and Padawan, or father and son, and you’ll start to get close to it. We’ve all learned from plenty of people, but think of the people you want to be like. That’s discipleship.

Simply put, a disciple of Jesus is someone who wants to be like Jesus and follows Jesus.

Second, Jesus says disciple-making will take place through baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and through teaching. Chances are when you read this, your mind goes immediately to the water rite we call baptism today. As if to say, disciples are made by pouring water on someone while saying the phrase. But pause for a moment and go back to the meaning of the word “baptism.” Translate the word “baptize” as “immerse,” and suddenly you get a new perspective on what Jesus is saying:

“Make disciples of all nations, immersing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

What if instead of telling us to immerse people into water, Jesus is telling us to immerse people into God? Wouldn’t that be closer to the essence of discipleship?

Many people have often wondered why the New Testament and Christian church have put such stock in baptism. For some, it seems a bit like a hoop to jump through. Or maybe more like a birthday party or graduation ceremony. Why does Jesus invest such importance in this act? Could it be that we’ve missed the point if we think immediately of the water rite we call baptism? What if, instead, the whole intent is a life immersed into the center of God and his will?

Christian baptism, at its core, is immersion into God.

There’s a tendency in Christian circles to talk about inviting Jesus into your heart. This is good. It’s biblical. It reflects the personalization of faith and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in every believer.

It also gets over-emphasized.

Now, before you reject that out-of-hand and write this off, take a moment and let us explain. The Bible talks in various ways about Christ living in us, but far more, it talks about us living in him! One of the apostle Paul’s favorite phrases is “in Christ.” In fact, the number of times the New Testament talks about us being in Christ as opposed to Christ (or his Spirit) being in us is a ratio of about 20:1. Being “in Christ.” Doesn’t that sound like immersing into him?

Its implications are staggering.

As important as it is to invite Christ into your heart and as good as it is to have that sense of personal intimacy with him inside your heart, the danger is that it can make you the center. You are big. Jesus is small (he fits into your heart). Your life is primary. It’s up to Jesus to fit into it. Your dreams come first, and Jesus is there to help you with them.

Baptism turns this on its head. With baptism, suddenly God is big, and you are small. Jesus’s life is primary, and you fit into him. God’s will comes first, and you are there to help him with it.

There’s a children’s book written in the 80s that was turned into a movie in the 90s called The Indian in the Cupboard. It’s about a nine-year-old boy who has a lot of toys but is given a toy Indian for his birthday. Unbeknownst to anyone else, this toy Indian is actually alive, and it quickly becomes the boy’s favorite. It talks to him. It’s his friend. It’s there to guide him, teach him, and serve as his conscience. But when the boy is done playing with the Indian or doesn’t like what the Indian has to say, he can put the Indian safely away, not to be bothered by him anymore.

Too often, people do the same thing with Jesus. They meet Jesus, befriend Jesus, and invite Jesus into their life. Jesus guides them, teaches them, and acts as a conscience. But as soon as Jesus becomes inconvenient or challenges them in some undesired way, they lock him safely back in their heart so as not to be bothered by his uncomfortable aspects anymore.

Baptism will have none of that. It proclaims, “Jesus, you gave your life for me; I give my life to you. Jesus, you are first; I fit into you. You are my Lord; I am here to follow and obey.” It doesn’t seek to find how God fits into my life. It seeks to fit into his.

None of this denies the importance of the water rite we call baptism. No, it intensifies it. It puts it forward as an expression, symbol, and means of that immersion into Christ that God calls you to. It’s not just some ritual.

Question

1. What are some ways you can shift from fitting Jesus into your life to plunging your life into his?